Centering-ring for tire-beads



w; F'. GOFF. czm'smus mus FOR TIRE'BEADS.

APPLICATION FILE D DEC- 24, I918. 1,339,451 ente May 11, 1920,

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- W. F.. GOFF.

CENTERING RING FOR TIRE BEADS. APPLICATION FILED 61:024. 1918.

1,339,451 Pa ented M11, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

againstits spring 24 being generally requ1red.' This accurately locatesthe gage ring .zoncentrically with the core surfaces on whlch thepartially-formed. tire is located,

' since the inner shoulder of the core 11 'is concentric with thosesurfaces. The fingers 17 are of equal lengths so that their beadengagingportions 11 are also concentric. The bead core 14 is'then pushed intoplace by the operators hands over the finger ends 18 and may, ifdesired,be further seated 1 by a I suitable rolling operation to firmlystick it in. place before. the gage is removed.

. The gage isthenwithdrawn, and, when the other bead core has-beensimilarly located -on the opposite side of the tire, the con-Structionof the-tire is furtherproceeded with. in the usual way.

By providing a beadrcentering'jgage hav ing a concentric series ofbead-engaging members separated by open spaces, .which preferably. are,as shown, Wider in a circumferential direction than the outer ends ofthe fingers, the total area'of contact between the gage and the beadcore 1s greatly reduced as compared with prion forms of gages havingacontinuous bead-supportlng surface. Heretofore, so far as 1 am aware,

bead-placing rings or annular bead-locating gages have been employedonly in connection with soft-or extensible beads, Bead cores forstraightsside tires are inextensible and usually straight orcylindricalon their base sides as shown in Fig.3, and there is usually anunavoidable slight variation in the inner diameter of such cores. Acomnion mode of placing such bead cores concentrically on a tire has,therefore, been to employ a hand spacing bloclg inserted from point topoint between the base of the I bead cor'e'and the outer shoulder of thecore-- locking ring or sometimes there is employed the slower method ofmarking a concentric gaging circle'on the tire with a pair of compasses.My improved gage may be used with inextensible bead cores, as it allowsfor any slight variations in the diameters of said cores by merelycompressing the bottom of the cover or other soft surface of the coremore or less without producing an undue amount of drag or friction uponthe core either in slipping the latter over the gage'or in withdrawingthe gage after the head core has been stuck on the tire. The

bead. cores can also tend to take a slightly polygonal form on the gageand thus further compensate for their variations in size, withoutdeparting to an objectionable degree from the shapeof a true circle. .60I

In the modified form of my invention shown in Figs. 4: and 5, the. gagering 16? is adapted to telescope over the tapered outer shoulder of thecore-locking ring 11, and

the bead-engaging fingers or abutments '17 are of correspondinglyshorter radial depth.

trimmed at the toe of thebead.

circular series of relatively tial. series of spaced The stud 22 in thisinner end of the slot and the spring 24? ring.

case is located at the 1n the splice bar 20*, tends to contract the gageThis form is more particularly applicable to'tires using short innerplieswhich are The form shown in Figs. 1 to 3 is preferred as being ofmore universal application.

' I do not claim broadly the use of a transversely-split springbead-gage ring.

1. A tire bead-positioning gage having a -ircular series of relativelywidely spaced bead-base-engaging abutm'ents exposed or unobstructedat'their outer ends in an axial direction to permit an endlessinextensible the tire-forming core and provided with a circumferentialseries of spaced, radial, fixed fingers for engaging and supporting thebase of the bead core, the circumferential width of the outer ends ofsaid fingers being less than'that of the spaces between them.

at. A tire bead-positioning ing a transversely-split, expanding andcontracting spring ring havinga circumferenfingers projecting ragagecomprisdially outward therefrom for engaging the base of the tire head,-the circumferential width of the outer ends of less than that of thespaces between them.

A tire bead-positioning gage comprisannular shoulder on the tire-formingcore,

and a circumferential series of spaced fingers pro ecting radiallyoutward from said ring and formed withibead-eng aging outer endsprojecting laterally inward in an axial direction. p j

6;. The combination of a tire-formlng'core having a concentric annularshoulder, a

yieldingly-expansible transversely-split ring. adaptedto telescopewithin and against said said fingers being =ing a ring adapted totelescope" within an shoulder in a contracted condition, and a'circumferential series of L-shaped fingers projecting from said ringradially outward past said shoulder and formed with-beadengagingextremities projecting laterally inwardtoward the core.

i In testimony whereof I have hereunto set any hand this 21st .da ofDecember, 1918. W LLIAM 'GOFF,

